College is expensive. Groceries are expensive. Electricity, water, and internet are expensive. Rent is expensive. Books are expensive.

LIFE IS EXPENSIVE.

But your adult life should not come at the expense of your parents' wallet.

The majority of people in college are young adults and being a young adult in college myself, I can say that having a job while managing school is difficult; especially if you end up taking a lot of credits every semester.

It's true that school is a job in itself, and school should always be one of your top priorities, but that is not to say that you can't get another job of some sort. School is hard and life is harder, but relying on your parents as a sole source of income makes their lives even harder than it already is.

Getting a job while in college declares you as a true independent young adult. If your parents help you out a little then wonderful but you should be helping them out as well by being able to provide some of your own income. It just simply is not fair to them to have to continue providing a FULL income to you after you turn 18.

Partial income is them making sure you can get by comfortably without the added stress and they most likely are helping you with bills because they want you to focus on school — not on how you're going to be fed for the next week. With that being said, stop taking advantage of their love and care for you and get a job to ease their burden a little bit.

If the guilt of making your parents' wallets cry more than they should doesn't convince you, then maybe resume boosters will.

Every time you apply for a job, you will be asked about your previous employment. Your potential new employer in your first year out of college may be somewhat let down when your resume is filled with jobs that you had in high school so many years ago. They want to see that you've gained real-world experience and responsibility through work.

Now don't get me wrong, you can gain real-world experience through other means and I do realize that college as a whole is a huge responsibility. But, your future employer will likely brush those facts to the side.

All in all, get a job of some sort while you're in college. Babysit, mow lawns, wait tables, be a lab assistant to a professor, work at the campus bookstore, whatever it may be. It will be hard, and if you find you genuinely cannot handle classes and work, cut down your hours at work. If you're still struggling, take a semester off work to focus on school and then try again the following semester and even in the summer.

Working while in college is difficult, but it's beneficial in the long run.